The Challenge Tour returns to Poland this week, for the first time in 15 years, with the Rosa Challenge Tour taking place from August 29 – September 1. Here’s everything you need to know…
Rosa Golf Club
Rosa Golf Club makes its Challenge Tour debut this week and does so as one of the finest golf courses in the country. Situated in the city of Czestochowa, it was designed by architect Hans-Georg Erhardt and opened its doors in 2005. The parkland layout was built to exacting USGA specification, with the build process seeing over a million cubic metres shifted during construction.
Water hazards are a feature throughout the golf course, with interconnected lakes creating several intimidating approach shots. The 192-metre 14th and 172-metre 17th are two testing par threes on the back nine, with both protected by water.
The facilities are also second-to-none, with 80 driving range bays, a 1,500 metre square practice putting green and a modern clubhouse to rival most others.
A welcome return
Poland has featured six times since the Challenge Tour’s inception in 1989, and will return for a seventh time this week. Four of those visits came in consecutive years from 1996-1999, before the DHL Wroclaw Open brought Challenge Tour golf back to the country in 2008 and 2009 after a nine-year absence. It will make its long-awaited return in 2024 after 15 years away.
Eric Ramsay completed a wire-to-wire victory the last time the Challenge Tour visited Poland with the Scotsman jumping into an early lead following an opening round 61 before he added rounds of 68-65-69 to win by two strokes.
Growing the game
The Challenge Tour’s return to Poland comes at the perfect time, as the country looks to inspire the next generation of golfing superstars. Poland’s own Adrian Meronk, and more recently, Mateusz Gradecki, have impressed on the Road to Mallorca in recent years, with Gradecki winning in 2022 on his way to promotion to the DP World Tour.
Gradecki will tee it up this week alongside a cohort of local talent hoping to impress, including Michał Bargenda, Oskar Zaborowski, Maksymilian Biały, Jan Rybczyński, Nikolas Tymiński, Antoni Hawkins, and Alejandro Pedryc, who is a four-time winner of the Polish Amateur Championship.
The final third
The 2024 Road to Mallorca reaches its final third, with several players moving ever closer to securing their promotion to the DP World Tour. There are 20 cards up for grabs, and with this the 21st of 29 events, a strong closing stretch of the season for any of the 156 players in the field this week could see them force their way into contention.
Just 12 months ago, Marco Penge claimed two wins in the final five events to graduate as the Road to Mallorca Number One, proving that a late surge up the Rankings can be done.
